Automatic feeder for straw-burning furnaces.



No. 706,532; Patented Aug. l2, |902.

J. A. cowAH. AUTOMATIC FEEDER FR STRAW BURNING FURNACES.

(Appliation led July 15, 1901.)

( llo Model.)

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No. 706,532. Patented Aug. I2, |902.

` J. A. CUWAN. AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOR STBAW BURNING FURNACES.

(Appumlm maa .my 15, 1901.)

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(N0 Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. COVAN, OF CALGARY, CANADA.

AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOR STRAW-BURNING FURNACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 706,532, dated August12, 1902. .Application filed July l5, 1901. Serial No. 68.387; (Nomodel.)

T0 all whom, t may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHN ALEXANDER COWAN, agent, of the town of Calgary,in the district of Alberta and Dominion of Canada, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Automatic Feeders for Straw- BurningFurnaces, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to devise cer'- tain improvements inapparatus for feeding straw automatically and continuously to a furnace,described and claimed in my prior United States application, No. 40,201,filed the 17th day of December, 1900; and it consists, essentially, inimprovements in the means employed for carrying the straw to the forwardedge of the cage at the bottom, in the means provided for regulating thefeed, and in the means for forcing the straw to the mouth of thefurnace, substantially as hereinafter more specically described and thendefinitely claimed.

Figure lis a longitudinal section of my improved feeder,with the end ofa furnace shown in dotted lines. tional plan of the front portiony ofthe apparatus, with the end of a furnace shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3is an enlarged perspective detail of one of the carrier-hooks of thetrans-l verse feed. Fig. 4 is a skeleton plan view illustrating themethod of steering the device. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of aportion of one of the serrated carrier-slats of the Vertical carrier ofthe straw-cage. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail in elevation of a portionof the driving mechanism; Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail of the mechanismwhereby the vertical carrier is thrown into and out of action.

In the drawings like letters of reference indioate corresp'ondingpartsinthe different figures.

A is a straw-cageformed of suitable slatwork and mounted on the wheelsB. These wheels are journaled on L-shaped axles C, the vertical portionsof which are Yjournaled in the bearings a on the sills of the cage. Tothe horizontal parts of these axles are secured the forwardly-'extendingarms b and the rearwardly-extending arms c. The arms c are connected bythe link d, and suitable traction- .rods e are pivotally secured to thearms h. When the apparatus is being drawn by a traction-engine, thetraction-rod e will be connected to the steering-chains of thetraction-engine, so that as the steering-chains of the traction-engineare drawn upon to turn the engine the traction-rods e will also be drawnupon to swing the wheels B-of the straw-cage, and thus steer it afterthe traction-engine. The link d insures the wheels B moving in unison.

At the upper part of the cage A is formed the straw-rack D, intended to'carry a snilicient supply of straw for the traction-engine when movingfrom place to place. The rear end of the straw-cage is open, as showninFig. l, when in use, but is preferably provided with a hinged fiap E,which is turned down, as indicated, to aid the attendant in throwingstraw into the machine. 0n the floor of the straw-cage runs an endlessslat conveyer F, which isfcarried bythe sprocket-wheelsf and g. AAtthefront end of thefcage avertical conveyer G` is carried on f thesprocketwheels h and 't'. The 'cross-slats H of this conveyer areserrated, as shown at Fig. 5, as ordinaryteeth tend to comb through thestraw Without takingan effective grip of it. The conveyer G ispreferablyV not set perpendicular tothe floorV ofthe straw-cage, but isinclined rearwardly, as the front surface of this straw naturally tendsto incline in the same direction. The lower sprocket-wheels of thisconveyer are located close to the openingj at the bottom of the forwardend of the straw-cage and just in front of the forward sprocket-wheels fof the conveyer F. In front of and toward thetop of the opening j islocated the spiked roller I, which is jonrnaled in the arms k, securedto the hinged lid J of the transverse feed-box K. Itwill be noticed thatthe spikes of this roller are inclined outwardly at opposite sides ofthe center and that just at the center they are set in a plane at rightangles to the axis of the roller. This arrangement ofthe spikes tends tofeed the straw inward toward the center.

In front of the roller I are located the transverse conveyers L, carriedon the sprocketwheels Z and m, so that a central gap is left between theconveyers. The conveyer-chains are provided with a series of links n, onwhich are pivotcd swinging hooks M by means of VIOO sides of the linksm. (See Fig. 3.) These hooks are provided with tailpieces o, whichextend backward in the direction from which the chain is moving. Behind'the inner side -of each conveyer L is secured a backboard N, providedwith a groove q, of sufficient width for the links of the chain, and theswinging hooks with their tailpieces. The grooves q are deep at theouter end of each backboard and gradually become shallower as the centerof the machine is reached. It follows from this that when straw ispassing through the apparatus and the conveyers are moving in toward thecenter of the machine the pressure of the straw causes the hooks to cantfarther back at the outer sides of the machine than they do at` thecenter, so that as the hooks move in towardhecentertheircarryingcapacityisincreased. As the hooks when at the outersides of the machine have but little straw to carry, and

yas at the center they have.v to carry all the straw gathered in -theirpassage from the outer sides of the machine by the arrangement of theparts described, they are perfectly adapted to the work to be done. Ashield O covers the front of eachbackboard and is provided with thenecessary openings `for the proper working of the swinging hooks. andthe sprocket-wheels Z and m. These shields eX- tend'around the innersprocket-wheels Z and form the throat of the feed-box P, which is shownas entering the end of a furnace P. (Shown in dotted lines in Figs. land 2.) The throat and the feed-box both flare or expand in sizeoutwardly from the machine. The feed-box itself is preferably ofsomewhat greater width than depth and may be made of any suitablematerial.

The power to drive the machine is taken from a shaft Q, which in turn isdriven in any suitable manner from the engine with which the feed isbeing used. This shaft conveys power by bevel-gearing r to thetransverse shaft R. This shaft is journaled in one or more swinging armsS, journaled on the transverse shaft T, journaled on the top of thetransverse feed-box K. On the shaft R is secured a sprocket-wheel s,which by a suitable sprocket-chain drives the sprocket-wheel t on theshaft T. At one end of the shaft T is secured the sprocket-wheel U,which by suitable sprocket-chain drives the sprocketwheel u, fast on theend of the shaft'carrying ,f the sprocket-'wheels Z of the verticalconveyer G. On the-same shaft is located the bevelpinion V, whichengages with the bevel gear- `wheel W, fast on the inclined shaft o,suitably journaled on the frame ofthe cage and bearing in its other enda bevel-pinion d', engaging the bevel gear-wheel A, fast on the end ofthe shaft carrying the sprocket-wheels f of the conveyer F. The end ofthe shaft of the spiked roller I is provided with a sprocketwheel b',and the sprocket chain passing around the sprocket-wheels U and u alsoengages the sprocket-wheel b'. (See Fig. 6.) The transverse shaft Tdrives the transverse conveyers L by means of bevel-gearing B', whichimparts a motion preferably to the spindles of each of the innersprocket-wheels Z. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) y

From the driving connections described it is evident that the parts maybe given their proper motion.

The straw is placed in the cage from bev hind and when the machine is inoperation is continuously fed forward to the feed-opening j by thecarriers F and G. -Upon passing through this opening it is engaged bythe spiked roller I, which rests on top of it andy holds it down andfeeds it toward the center. After passing under the roller I it isengaged by the transverse conveyers L, carried to the center, and forcedthrough the throat of the feed-box. In this feed-box it is compressed,as the loose straw is fed in faster than it emerges from the other end.This elastic compression is important, as I am thus enabled to pushforward the straw to the mouth of the furnace. The straw must becompressed to enable it to push forward the straw in front of it. Afterit passes the throat it is then by the flare of the feed-box allowed toexpand, and it is then easy for the compressed straw in the throat topush it forward to the mouth of the furnace. In other strawfeeds it hasbeen usually necessary to convey the straw by positive means right tothe mouth of the furnace.

As already described, the spiked roller I is carried by the hinged lid.l of the transverse feed-box. The roller is normally held down by meansof coil-springs Cengaging the top of the lid and the under side of thebrackets D', secured to the transverse feed-box K. To make the tensionadjustable, these coilsprings are preferably arranged around rods c',secured to the brackets and provided with nuts oZv, which maybe screweddown when desired to increase the tension of the springs.

To the end of one of the arms Zo is pivoted the link e,.the other end ofwhich is pivoted on the stop-arm E', pivoted at one end on the `side ofthe straw-cage.

Secured to the shaft f of the sprocketwheels 'L' is a driving-disk F',on which is pivoted the dog G. One end of this dog is hooked, so that itwill engage in one of the notches g', formed on the hub of thebevelpinion V. (See Fig. 7.) It is normally pressed inward to engagewith these notches by a spring, such as h. The path of the tail of thisdog when the shaft is in rotation is just clear of the normal positionof the end of the-stop-arm E. carry unusually heavy bunches of strawthrough the feed-opening j,the spiked roller will lift, thus raising thestop-arm E into the path of the tail of the dog G. The dog is thuslifted out ofthe notch in the hub of the bevel-pinion V, with which itis engaged, and

If the conveyers F and Gv ICO IOS

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is held out until the dropping of the spiked v roller I again causes thestop-arm E to release its tail. It is then thrown back against the hubof the bevel-pinion by the spring h and again engages one ofthe notchesg'. By the construction described the feed of the machine is entirelystopped until the extra quantity of straw has been disposed of by thetransverse conveyers.

It will be seen that my machine gives a lnore regular and constant feedthan it is possible to give by hand, and as the cold drafts which alwaysenter the furnace when the doors are open for hand-feeding are entirelydone away with the steaming of the boiler will he much more even andregular.

The machine is provided with a tongue H', by means of which it maybeconnected with the engine. When traveling, the separator will beconnected to the rear. Vater-tanks may also be carried to supply theboiler of the engine when the outfit is on the road.

What I claim as my invention is- I. In an automatic feeder forstraw-burning furnaces, the combination of a straw-cage; means formoving the straw to the front part of the bottom; a spiked rollersuitably supported and driven above the bottom in front of the point towhich the straw is moved; suitably supported and driven transverseconveyers in front of, and below the said roller, and adapted to carrythe straw to the center; and a feed-box adapted to receive stra-w fromthe said conveyers,substantially as described.

2. In an automatic feeder for straw-burningfurnaces, the combination ofastraw-cage; means for moving the straw to the `front part of the bottom;a spiked roller suitably supported and driven above the bottom in frontof the point to which the straw is moved, the spikes of the rollersbeing inclined outwardly on each side of the center; suitably lsupportedand driven transverse conveyers in' front of, and below the said rollerand adapted to carry the straw to the center; and a feed-box adapted toreceive straw from the said conveyers, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic feeder for straw-burning furnaces, the combination ofa straw-cage; means for moving the straw to the front part of thebottom; a spiked roller suitably supported and driven above the bottomin front of the point to which the straw is moved; suitably supportedand driven transverse conveyers in front of, and below the said roller,and adapted to carry the straw to the center; and a feed-box adapted toreceive straw from the said conveyers, the said feed-box beingcontracted at the throat where it receives the straw and flaring towardthe delivery end, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic feeder for straw-burning furnaces, the combination ofa straw-cage having a feed-box contracted at the throat and flaringtoward the delivery end,and mechanism adapted to draw straw from thecage and force it into the throat of said contractand in front of thepoint to which the straw Y is moved; means operated by the verticalmovement of the said roller for stopping the mechanism moving the strawfrom the cage; suitably supported and driven transverse eonveyers infront of and below the said roller and adapted to carry the straw to thecenter; and a feed-box adapted to receive straw from the saidconveyers,substantially as described.

6. In an automatic feeder for straw-burning furnaces, the combination ofa box or cage for straw; a transverse conveyer arranged in communicationwith the front part of the bottom of the cage; means to move straw inthe cage to the conveyer; a suitably supported and driven spiked rollerlocated behind the transverse con veyer and adapted to act on the uppersurface of the straw passing to the con veyer; and a feed-box adapted toreceive straw from the con veyer,substantiaily as described.

7. In an automatic feeder for straw-burn ing furnaces, the combinationof a straw-cage having an opening at the bottom of its front side; anendless conveyer suitably supported and driven to move straw to thefront of the cage; a suitably supported and driven endless uprightconveyer adapted to discharge the straw through the opening at thefrontof the cage; suitably supported and driven endless conveyersadapted to take the straw and move it to the center; and a feed-box intowhich the said transverse conveyers force the straw, substantially asdescribed.

8. In an automatic feeder for straw-burning furnaces, the combination ofa straw-cage having an opening at the bottom of its front side; anendless conveyer suitably supported and driven to move straw to thefront of the cage; a suitably supported and driven endless uprightconveyer adapted to discharge the straw through the opening at the frontof the cage; suitably supported and driven endless conveyers adapted totakethe straw and move it to the center; a suitably-snpported rollervertically movable and adapted to rest on the straw passing from theupright conveyer to the transverse conveyers; means operated by the riseand fall of the said roller for throwing the horizontal conveyer intoand out of gear; and a feed-box into which the said transverse conveyersforce the straw, substantially as described.

9. In an automatic feeder for straw-burning furnaces, the combination ofa box or cage for straw; a transverse conveyer arranged in communicationwith the front part of the bottom of the cage; means to move straw` inthe cage to the conveyer; a feed-box arranged to receive straw from theconveyer, the said IOO transverse conveyer comprising a chain running onsprocket Wheels, swinging hooks pivoted on the said chain, tailpieces onthe said hooks, and a backboard withV a groove therein to engage thetailpieces, said groove decreasing in depth from the end from which thehooks are moving toward the opposite end, substantially asi-described.

10. In an automatic feeder for straw-burning furnaces, the combinationof a box or cage for straw; a feed-box; transverse conveyers varrangedin communication with the front part of thebotb'om of the cage andarranged to draw straw to the middle and force it; into the feed-box;and means to move the straw

